Pet owners might be able to rest easy soon now that a COVID-19 vaccine seems to be making its way to the animal kingdom ... as it's getting a mass trial run at a California zoo.
Oakland Zoo officials announced this week that they had received a substantial shipment of the experimental 'rona jab manufactured by pharmaceutical company Zoetis ... which presumably cooked their recipe up specifically for wild creatures, across the board.
We say that because OZ says it's already administered the vaccine to a good portion of their furry friends ... including their lions, tigers, bears and ferrets. Oh my, indeed!
The zoo was one of the first recipients of 11,000 doses Zoetis made (and tested) ... and apparently, more are being rolled out to other animal facilities in the coming weeks. This is a donation, BTW -- for this time around at least -- so very generous on Zoetis' part.
The USDA has said this vaccine -- which was reportedly first tested out on minks -- can be used on a case-by-case basis ... but it clearly works to a high degree, because Oakland is straight-up inoculating their animals seemingly en masse. It's unclear if more animal types will be included at some point -- but ya gotta figure they will be if the trial run goes well.
This is big news ... not just because different animals at zoos have contracted the virus -- including tigers and primates at places like the SD Zoo (which got a small shipment of Zoetis earlier this year to test on the latter) -- but it could have ramifications for dogs/cats.
While it isn't conclusive that animals can transmit the virus to humans, the jury's out if the reverse is possible. One thing we know for sure ... pets can (and have) caught it. So, to help keep our four-legged loved ones safe going forward, Zoetis could be key in that battle.